Green man pleads guilty to charge he tried to hire hitman to kill estranged wife
A Green man has pleaded guilty to a charge he attempted to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife for $20,000 two years ago.
Scott Allen Renninger, 53, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 21. He pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Akron attorney J. Reid Yoder said his client agreed to a plea deal offered by the government that reduced his potential sentence from 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine to 6 years and no fine. Judge John R. Adams of the U.S. District Court will make the final ruling in the case.
"He was set and ready to go to trial," Yoder said. "The government had extended an offer for him to plead for a period of 72 months. Prior to that, they were at 120 months, and then they were at 80 months."
Yoder said Renninger admits he did meet with an individual posing as a hitman, but he had not committed to paying for his wife's murder.
"He didn't believe that he had the intent to move forward and actually move forward and hire the hit man," Yoder said, adding that after a second meeting with the supposed hit man, "and then never got in contact with him again and never called him. Six days later the FBI agents came in and arrested him."
Informant reveals plot to FBI
According to court documents, a confidential source approached the FBI in early October 2020 and reported Renninger had talked about finding someone to kill his wife, who was divorcing him.
According to the FBI affidavit, the source said he told Renninger that he knew of "someone who had done that kind of work in the past and could contact him" as a way to prevent Renninger from taking action and killing his wife.
On Nov. 4, 2020, the FBI "outfitted a second confidential source" who posed as a "hitman" to meet with Renninger. They discussed offering money in exchange for the murder, according to court records.
At one point, according to the FBI, Renninger told the purported hitman that he had planned to give the first confidential informant a discount on a home sale in exchange for the first informant's paying the hitman for the murder. That plan was abandoned after Renninger said he was not sure he could trust the first individual.
Court documents state that Renninger and the purported hitman had frequent contact, and Renninger provided the individual with a photograph of his wife, license plate information and his wife’s street address. On one occasion, Renninger stated they needed to figure out a way to communicate, possibly using disposable phones, and confirmed his desires to make the victim “disappear.”
Arrest follows $20,000 proposal to arrange murder
During subsequent meetings, Renninger and the individual again discussed the plot and agreed upon a price of $20,000 for the murder, according to court records.
On Nov. 17, 2020, federal authorities announced the arrest of Renninger at his residence without incident. His wife was unharmed.
Court documents show Scott Renninger was living at their Chadwick Drive home in Green and his wife, who had filed for divorce in August 2020, was living in New Franklin. The couple had married in North Umberland, Pennsylvania, in 1990. They have four adult children.
The documents show that in addition to the Green home, the couple owned numerous other properties in Ohio and elsewhere.
A divorce decree was filed in March in Summit County Domestic Relations Court.
Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433, or emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Green man may get six years for trying to hire hitman to kill wife
